Namibia Wildlife Tour

Today you will have some free time to explore the capital city of Windhoek.

Overnight Standard Hotel (H+)

This morning we will head off in a southwesterly direction into the Namib Desert, to the edge of the Namib-Naukluft National Park and our campsite at Sesriem. The Namib is the oldest desert on earth, distinguished as being home to some of the strangest flora and fauna on the continent.

Overnight Standard Camping (C+) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today we drive into the Namib-Naukluft National Park and travel down the Tsauchab Valley to Sossusvlei to watch the sun cast its shadows over the red dunes. Sossusvlei has some of the world’s most spectacular sand dunes. The area itself is a vast depression or clay pan, towered over by sand dunes up to 300m high. In the early morning, the first rays of the sun light up the dunes with a deep orange glow – a photographer’s delight. It is a wild, beautiful and romantic spot, with sparse vegetation edging a few watercourses that flow in from the Tsauchab River. Here springbok and ostrich are often seen. We’ll also explore the cool passageways of the Sesriem Canyon on foot. The canyon is small but very picturesque – many plants grow in the shade and shelter offered by the canyon, and water pools attract several species of birds and animals. It may also be possible to climb Elim Dune for sunset this evening.

Overnight Standard Camping (C+) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

An optional early morning balloon ride is an excellent way of gaining a unique perspective of the vast desert landscapes of this stunning region of Namibia. Drifting silently over the dunes, keep your eyes open for desert wildlife foraging for food. Travelling via Solitaire and through the Kuiseb Canyon, we then pass awe-inspiring landscapes as we head across the Namib gravel flats to Walvis Bay. Here a large spit forms a natural deepsea harbour that attracted the first navigators in the late 1400s. The shallows, located where the spit joins the mainland, are home to a diverse collection of birds, the most spectacular being flamingos and pelicans that feed here seasonally (May to November usually). It’s a short drive from here to the coastal town of Swakopmund.

Overnight Standard Camping (C+) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Swakopmund is a lively resort town, an oasis of lawns, gardens and palm trees after the long journey through the desert. The day is free to relax or take a refreshing dip in the ocean. The museum is well worth a visit to see the unique collection of both marine and desert flora and fauna. Alternatively, there are some optional activities on offer locally to explore this stunning part of Africa.

Overnight Standard Camping (C+) Included meals: Breakfast

Travelling north towards the Namibian ‘Skeleton Coast’ we visit the memorable Cape Cross Seal Colony where between 80,000 and 100,000 Cape fur seals bask in the sun or swim playfully in the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The seals are natural indicators of fish stocks in the ocean. If the fish stocks are healthy, then the seal numbers are high. If the fish stocks are poor, then the seal numbers will be low. The seals are quite big, an average male weighing-in at anything up to 187kg (501lbs). The females give birth to a single pup around late November to early December. After our visit we head inland, passing the majestic Brandberg Mountain (2,573m), the highest point in Namibia, as we enter the southern part of Damaraland.

Overnight Standard Camping (C+) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Damaraland is an area with approximately 1,000 rock shelters and more than 45,000 paintings believed to be the work of the San Bushmen. The massif of the Twyfelfontein contains a spectacular record of the rock art of the Khoisan people, painted and incised into the sandstone of the mountain over a thousand years. Finally we will visit the extraordinary Petrified Forest, with its huge fossilised tree trunks, declared a National Monument in 1950; it is estimated to be about 200 million years old, and both the bark and the tree rings are perfectly preserved. After this we will continue our journey to Etosha National Park which offers, arguably, some of the best game viewing in Africa.

Overnight Standard Camping (C+) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

We continue our safari through Etosha National Park to our second camp, Namutoni. Etosha is an immense, saline desert, covering over 12,400 square miles, and the habitat for 114 species of animals and 340 species of birds. It has been described as one of the best game reserves on the African continent. Our programme of game drives will depend entirely on the interests of the group, and is left as flexible as possible. We should see elephant, rhino and hopefully lion. The terrain ranges from dense bush to large open plains where animals roam freely. We drive along the network of gravel roads that crisscross the Park, visiting the various viewpoints and the permanent waterholes around which animals congregate. There is something enigmatic in the vast silent grey-white pan that covers the reserve. Numerous waterholes and underground springs attract large herds of animals including springbok, zebra, wildebeest and giraffe. At its very heart is the Etosha Pan, which geologists believe was formed some 12 million years ago from an inland lake about the size of Holland. Shrunk to its present dried-up size, it is now a gigantic depression in the ground – flat, saline and silvery, a mysterious place of mirages and dust-laden images. While in Etosha, you may want to try a night drive surrounding either camp.

Overnight Standard Camping (C+) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Leaving the harsh desert landscapes behind, us today is a long and hot travelling day as we travel to the lush Caprivi area via Grootfontein and Rundu to camp on the Okavango River at Divundu. The mighty Okavango is the third largest river in Africa and its delta area covers 16,000 square kilometres of crystal clear channels, a myriad of ephemeral lakes and ever changing islands, surviving atop the Kalahari Desert. The river flows south east from the Angolan highlands over 1,000 km away, taking up to 6 months to reach the delta area which floods on a perennial annual cycle.

Overnight Standard Camping (C+) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today is left free for relaxation after yesterday’s long drive. A choice of optional activities is available: perhaps take a game drive in nearby Mahango Game Park; try your hand at fishing; or take a more tranquil river trip by boat.

Overnight Standard Camping (C+) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

We cross into Botswana and travel through the outer reaches of the Kalahari, along the western edge of the Delta (known as the ‘Panhandle’) to the dusty frontier town of Maun, our gateway to the Okavango Delta. This afternoon there is the option to enjoy a scenic flight over the Okavango Delta. The Delta is also known as the ‘Pearl of Africa’. If you take this flight, you will see why it is such a stunningly beautiful place.

Overnight Standard Camping (C+) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

We leave our safari truck in Maun and travel in smaller 4WD safari land cruiser-style vehicles to arrive at a camp in the Moremi Game Reserve – one of Botswana’s most diversified reserves in terms of scenery and wildlife. Tucked into the north-eastern sector of the Okavango Delta, Moremi is thought to be the country’s most beautiful gameland and is rated, by some, as one of Africa’s greatest wildlife sanctuaries. It covers an enormous wilderness area composed of permanent swamps, islands, forest and dry land – an ornithologist’s paradise. Exceptional though the geography of the delta may be, it is the amazing wildlife of the waterways that draws us and we plan to set out game viewing almost immediately to make the most of our time here. Please note: day packs only to be taken into the Delta.

Overnight Basic Camping (C) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Thick beds of papyrus block many of the waterways and make much of the region impenetrable except by motorboat. Today we’ll spend some of our time exploring the waters as we cruise slowly through a maze of interconnecting channels, allowing us to get superb close-up pictures of the wildlife. Here, we’ll experience one of Africa’s most natural and unspoiled wonderlands – hippo, crocodile, red lechwe, and a great variety of birds have made their home in the Delta. There is also, the elusive Sitatunga antelope, whose elongated hooves allow it to walk on the marshy ground without sinking. Bird lovers may spot fish eagle, jacana, kingfisher, heron, stork, egret, weaver and bee-eater – just some of the magnificent species found here. This afternoon we will continue game viewing this time from our vehicle. More birdlife and larger mammals may be spotted on the flood plain, including elephant, giraffe, zebra and ostrich, as well as predators like lion, leopard and wild dog. Here in the Okavango silence reigns, broken only by the roar of a lion or the harsh cry of a fish eagle.

Overnight Basic Camping (C) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

We return to Maun this morning and rejoin our truck. After time to stock up with supplies and take a leisurely lunch we spend the afternoon driving through the Kalahari to a camp in the Ghanzi area. Later this afternoon and evening there may be an opportunity to talk and walk with the local guides and enjoy an evening of performance by local Bushmen (optional). Both of these activities provide a chance to catch a glimpse into an ancient way of life.

Overnight Basic Camping (C) Included meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Starting early, this morning you could choose to join an optional nature walk with San. This provides a fascinating opportunity to learn more about the traditional customs of these desert peoples. You will see them hunt and gather wild foods and learn about their use of different species of flora and fauna. Afterwards, we’ll head west and return to Windhoek.

Overnight Standard Hotel (H+) Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch

This morning we may have some free time for independent sightseeing of the Namibian capital.

Included meals: Breakfast